Antihypertensive treatment in the elderly

Abstract

Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but it is also very prevalent in the community. These two factors combined prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to report that high blood pressure is the first cause of death worldwide.¹ The prevalence of hypertension has been estimated to be approximately one in four, and this increases with age to such an extent that almost two-thirds of people over the age of 60 years have hypertension.²